Veteran builder Stokes Wheeler collapses with $20m debt as last-ditch rescue fails

A veteran Queensland builder has collapsed with debts topping $20m after a rescue plan from its directors failed to materialise, leaving several major projects in limbo.

Stokes Wheeler has collapsed owing $20m.

A veteran Queensland builder is in liquidation with debts topping $20m after a rescue plan from its directors failed to materialise.

Stokes Wheeler, which has offices in Yeronga and Southport, went into voluntary administration on February 3, with Roland Robson and Bill Cotter appointed.

Administrators revealed in March the company owed more than $20m and had been under financial pressure for five years, after multiple loss-making projects.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that it is suspected that the Company did trade while it was insolvent,” their report said.

Stokes Wheeler’s directors, Damien Stokes and John Wheeler, had drafted a deed of company arrangement in an attempt to avoid liquidation, but creditors voted to wind up the company on Monday.

The collapse left the Elevaire project in limbo.

The collapse halted work on four projects under construction, including a 40-apartment project Elevaire at Palm Beach by developer Evoke Property, which has lodged a debt claim of $6.49m with the administrators for “termination and rectification costs”.

Other projects under way included the Bounce Hostel at Pine Ave, Surfers Paradise; a medical centre at Dixon Circuit, Pimpama; and an aged care facility at Calam Road, Sunnybank.

Contracts for all four have been cancelled, with their developers on the hunt for new builders.

Stokes Wheeler has been previously contacted for comment but declined on those occasions.

Originally published as Veteran builder Stokes Wheeler collapses with $20m debt as last-ditch rescue fails